I found out about the cancelled presentation slot fifteen minutes before I was supposed to deliver it. Professor Hargrove’s email was brief and apologetic: Due to scheduling conflicts and administrative requirements, your midterm presentation has been postponed indefinitely. We apologize for any inconvenience.
I stared at my phone screen in the hallway outside the lecture hall, my carefully prepared notes clutched in my other hand. Three weeks of research on international pharmaceutical regulation, dozens of hours crafting arguments that would showcase everything I’d learned about the intersection of policy and industry—all of it suddenly meaningless.
“Scheduling conflicts,” I muttered, reading the email again. “Right.”
The lecture hall was already filling with students and faculty for
